Maitlands, Invisible
by StrngeUnusl-Deetz
Summary: Lydia can no longer see the Maitlands. Meant to be a story based on the musical but since there is no category for Beetlejuice the Musical, I filed this under the movie category instead.
1. Prologue

_'Of all the days to wake up and find that the Maitlands were nowhere in sight, it just had to be today.'_

Lydia Deetz stared, shocked, at the empty kitchen area. Not one sign of Mr. or Mrs. Maitland. This was something that she found strange. Every day, the Maitlands would both greet her with a smile as she came down the stairs.

But today, it was different.

"HELLOO!" The sixteen and a half year-old girl called out into the empty dining room. "BARBARA! ADAM! YOU GUYS AREN'T PLAYING TRICKS ON ME? ARE YOU?"

No answer.

"GUYS?!"

Still nothing.


	2. Just One Sign

-**Two years later**-

Now eighteen years old, Lydia stood on the edge of the roof of her house again, hot tears flowing down her face as she prepared to jump. Her dad and stepmom were both gone and she couldn't see the Maitlands. She didn't know where they were. Her mind drifted straight to Betelgeuse and she stiffened, now remembering the whole wedding incident that happened a couple years ago. What exactly had the demon been up to since the last time she'd seen him?

Plans to take her own life now long forgotten, Lydia turned and headed back into her house. She let out a quiet sounding sigh and sat herself down at the table in the dining room. Living in a haunted house all by herself wasn't quite what she'd been expecting.

Well, she wasn't exactly all alone, so to speak. The Maitlands were both still around. Lydia couldn't see them but she could definitely sense them.

Lydia carefully placed a candle down onto the table in front of her and let out a deep breath, lighting it, her intention in doing this being to ask the Maitlands for a sign letting her know they still cared about her, invisible or not.

"Adam?" Lydia yawned loudly. "Barb? If you're here in this room, please blow out this candle."

Lydia carefully watched the candle sitting on the table in front of her, her dark Brown eyes widening in happiness as she felt a calm breeze blow through the room, the bright flame of the candle blowing out as it passed right through the dining room. She just sat there in stunned silence for a few minutes, a widened smile appearing on her face.

"Thanks."

As if it heard her, the same breeze from earlier blew right back through the room, becoming colder as it passed by Lydia.

Lydia's stomach rumbled, causing the almost-adult female to get up and make her way over towards the fridge. She opened it and pulled out an apple before sighing and taking a few bites out of it.

The bright sun shone brightly through a tired Lydia's blinds early the next morning, causing the young adult female to pull her covers over her head. "Adam? Barb? If this is another sign from you guys, please turn my light on and off again."

Her light turned on before turning off again.

Lydia let out a slight chuckle before sitting up and sliding out of bed. Yesterday evening they were in the dining room with her and this morning they were in her room. Were they following her everywhere she went? She sure hoped that they weren't going to follow her when she was on her way to school and she hoped they weren't going to follow her from class to class.

That would be embarrassing.

Pulling on her school clothes, Lydia turned and left her room, making sure to close the door behind her. She headed down the stairs, unaware of the icy blast that was following her down the stairs. That same icy cold blast zoomed straight through the dining room, getting faster as it blew right past a surprised Lydia.

She face palmed and let out a sigh. "Guys, I just closed my bedroom door because you two just keep on following me everywhere I go. I know this sounds harsh, but could you please not do it for once? For me?"

As if the Maitlands were sorry for their constant following Lydia, the same icy blast from earlier blew right past her a second time, spinning her and causing her to fall. Lydia landed on her back and tried to pull herself up to no avail. What was keeping her from getting up? That's when she realized that the Maitlands both wanted her to stay, the icy blast pushing her back down to the floor every single time she tried to stand up.

Lydia rolled her eyes. "Guys, let me get up, please. I have to go to school and I don't want to be late.

The icy blast vanished, allowing Lydia to get up, sling her backpack over her shoulder and head out the door. The Maitlands weren't even planning on following her again?

Right?

Wrong.

Lydia stumbled, tirelessly, into the high school she attended and sat herself down on a bench so she could catch her breath. As it turned out, the Maitlands didn't seem to even understand what it was she was talking about. The way they both took their foster daughter's words was way different than she'd expected. They thought that it meant she still wanted them to go ahead and follow her.

"Lydia?" Lydia looked up, catching sight of her best friend, Olympia, and scooted aside to let her sit down. Olympia rested a hand on Lydia's shoulder. "Is something wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, Oly." Lydia sighed and shifted a little. "I was just thinking."

"Bout what?"

Lydia moved into a laying position, laying her head on her friend's lap and focusing her eyes on her. "Your brother and sister-in-law."

"Still unable to see them?" Olympia rested a hand on Lydia's forehead.

"Yeah." Lydia closed her eyes and took a quick deep breath before opening them again. "For the past few weeks, they kept on following me everywhere I went. I've tried to tell them that it's starting to bother me but all they get out of that is," Lydia began to do her best impression of Olympia's brother and sister-in-law, "let's just keep on following her. It's not like she asked us not to."

Olympia laughed and Lydia let out a groan of annoyance.

"It's not funny, Oly!"

She laughed again. "I thought it was."

"OLY!"

"Sorry." She stopped laughing and sighed.

As of now, the two girls found out that pretty much everyone in the same hallway as them was staring at them. Was Olympia's sudden laughing fit a little concerning to all of her and Lydia's fellow students or was it Lydia's strange story that got them concerned.

Lydia chuckled then gulped. "Why's everyone staring at us?"


	3. Demon Summoning 101

Lydia and Olympia both sat silently, sad looks on their faces, inside the school principal's office an approximate fifteen or so minutes later. Getting told to go straight to the school principal's office for laughing way too loud hadn't been what either one of the two girls expected to even happen. It turned out that that was why their fellow students were all staring at them in the first place.

Olympia leaned a little closer to a bored looking Lydia and chuckled a little, this action of hers causing the Brunette to turn and look at her friend. "What's on your mind, Oly?"

"Nuthin'." Olympia did not want to stop snickering.

"Oly, are you sure you're not thinking about accompanying me to my house and summoning Betelgeuse after School today?"

"C'mon, Lydia!" Olympia pouted at her friend. "If anyone can help us figure out why you can't see my brother and my sister-in-law, it's him. And besides, it's not like he's going to cause any trouble."

"Yes! I know! I know!" Lydia sighed loudly and crossed her arms, her eyes drifting off to the side. "But the last time I summoned him-."

Olympia decided to finish her friend's sentence for her. "He tried to marry you and when it was made official and he was brought back to life, you went ahead and stabbed him again, making him once again recently deceased and he was sent straight back to the Netherworld!"

"Well yes, but that was before-."

Again, Olympia chose to finish her friend's sentence. "His own mother showed up and tried to get her revenge on you for escaping the Netherworld. And then he showed up in cowboy clothes, riding on the back of a sandworm that he'd tamed which later devoured her and made her recently deceased. C'mon, L, you think I didn't know this."

"How did you-?" Lydia cleared her throat and glanced at Olympia again. "Did your brother and sister-in-law tell you everything that had happened those two years ago?"

Olympia nodded, running a hand through her long, light Brown hair. "Yeah they told me pretty much everything that happened. I think it was not too long after you stopped being able to see them."

Lydia was stunned. "Wait! You can still see them?"

"Yeah." Olympia confirmed, scratching the back of her head. "They are, after all, my family."

"Oh...right!" Lydia let out a quiet snicker.

"Lydia! Olympia! The Principal would like to see you now." The sound of the high school secretary's voice quickly halted both Lydia's and Olympia's conversation and the two girls got up out of their seats and entered the principal's office.

One thing lingered on both of their minds: if the school principal were to ever tell them that she was to call and let their families know that they were in trouble, how were they going to tell the principal they had no living family members. Both girls' families were deceased after all.

That was going to be super hard. Would the principal even believe either one of their stories? The answer: probably not. The high school principal sat silently at her desk, her right hand resting against her chin. She didn't bother to look up when Lydia and Olympia took their seats nor did she bother to look up when Olympia tried to get her attention.

"HELLOO?!" Olympia waved a hand in front of the principal's face. "IS ANYONE IN THERE?"

Lydia sighed. "It's no use, Oly."

"What if I tapped her." Olympia stopped what she was doing and focused her attention on Lydia. "Would that work?"

"I don't know. It might."

Olympia reached over, gently tapping the spaced out school principal on the shoulder, and then retracted her hand. The first thing that they both saw their principal do was stir and glance upwards, finally taking notice of the two girls sitting in front of her. "H-how long have you two been waiting for?"

"Five minutes." Came Lydia's response. "When we entered this room, you didn't immediately take notice of us so Olympia had to tap you awake."

The two girls watched their school principal take some paperwork out then glance at the two of them. "Can either of you give me your parents' phone numbers?"

Lydia nervously eyed Olympia, unsure of how to explain to the school principal that her parents were deceased. And Olympia had a similar expression on her face. Since neither girl had family that was still alive, they were stuck.

"We can't give you our parents' phone numbers." Lydia said casually.

"Why not?" The school principal cocked her head to the side as she tried to process Lydia's words.

"Well, for one, my dad and stepmom are deceased." Lydia continued.

"Oh..."

"My parents don't live in this area and my brother and sister-in-law are deceased as well." Olympia smirked.

"Is...is there anyone that I can call?" The principal was stunned speechless.

"No." Olympia snickered. "There isn't someone that you can call...but, there is a certain someone that we can call. You in, Lydia?"

Lydia rested a hand against her chin, deep in thought. Was now the right time to go ahead and summon Betelgeuse. If the two of them were to go through with it, there was no telling what amusing things the demon could do. If anything.

A few minutes later and Lydia had finally made up her mind. "I'm in."

"Great." Olympia smiled at her friend. "Now, should you do it or should I?"

"I-I think you should do it, Oly." Lydia spoke up quietly. "I don't know if I can even see him."

"Well, you won't know until one of us summons him, Lyds." Olympia calmly rested a hand on her friend's shoulder.

"Oh...okay...I'll do it, I guess." Lydia closed her eyes. "Betelgeuse...Betelgeuse... Betelgeuse."

It worked.

Betelgeuse appeared above the two eighteen year-old girls and their frightened principal not too long after Lydia had called out his name. As his eyes scanned the room he was in, he caught sight of a slightly older and taller version of Lydia, sitting right next to a girl who he knew he didn't recognize.

"Hey, Lydia! Long time no see!" Betelgeuse disappeared then reappeared in front of his old friend. "How long's it been since the two of us last saw each other?"

"It's been two years, Bj." Lydia responded. "Two years since the whole wedding incident. Two years since you had that sandworm devour your own mother. Two years since-."

"No need to remind me about that, Scarecrow." The demon directed his attention towards Olympia. "Who's this?"

"Hi! I'm Olympia! Olympia Maitland!"


	4. Suspended!

The Green-haired demon just stared in surprise down at the two girls. Olympia Maitland? She couldn't be? Could she... Betelgeuse directed his attention solely towards Olympia. "You said that your last name was Maitland, right. Does that mean you're related to Adam?"

Olympia nodded and smiled. "Yes. He's my older brother."

"Well then, Olympia." Betelgeuse floated towards Olympia and placed an arm around her shoulder. "How bout we-."

"No, Bj!"

The demon in question turned and looked to Lydia, the latter glaring at him and crossing her arms. "C'mon, Scarecrow. I swear I wasn't going to do anything bad this time around. Honest."

"Yeah right." Lydia rolled her eyes then continued to glare at Betelgeuse. "Your choice of words suggest otherwise, Bj."

"I just wanted the three of us to hang out, Scarecrow." Betelgeuse was now floating just above Lydia. "I could poof the three of us back into your house and-."

"Betelgeuse, Lydia and I still have to get through school first." Olympia let out a sigh. "We'll hang out with you after school."

"But-."

"Oly's right, Bj." Lydia sighed as well. "Why don't you poof yourself back to my house. Oly's brother and sister-in-law will both keep you company until we get there."

"I don't think that they have forgiven me quite yet like you have." Betelgeuse whined, pulling a pouty face.

Lydia rolled her eyes again, a slight chuckle escaping her throat. "I'm sure they will forgive you no matter what, Bj."

"You know that your friend is right. Right?" The school principal suddenly spoke up, and the two girls and their demon friend quickly realized that they were still in the front office. They turned to face the principal. "If he wants to hang out with you two then he can. You two are suspended from school for a week."

Lydia and Olympia exchanged nervous and worried glances with one another before focusing their attention back towards their principal. Suspended? They were high school seniors.

Were...Were they going to graduate at least?

"What about High School Graduation?" Lydia asked, resting her hands on the principal's desk. "Will Olympia and I still graduate?"

"You two are still going to graduate this year." The high school principal chuckled softly. "You're only suspended for a week and school's only been happening for a month."

Phew.

The two girls decided that, since they'd been suspended from school for the next week, they'd go ahead and head straight to Lydia's house. But before they could, they had to have the principal let the teachers of the classes they had every day know that neither girl was going to attend classes for the next week. The principal agreed, and the girls were each given their class work and school work for the next week.

Of course that was after the two girls kept getting stopped in the hallways of the school because quite a lot of their fellow classmates were super curious about Betelgeuse himself.

Heading right back towards back to Lydia's house proved to be a bit of a challenge.

Much like the students walking the halls of the high school, the group of three kept getting stopped on the street by various little children who were intrigued by the appearance of Betelgeuse, much to their parents' complete confusion.

Another fifteen minutes passed.

Lydia pushed open the front door to her house, a rather exhausted look in her eyes. The three entered, Lydia and Olympia putting down their school bags and making their way into the kitchen of the house so that Olympia could speak to her brother and sister-in-law about the possibility of them forgiving Betelgeuse.

Of course, said demon chose to stay in the foyer and wait, panic setting in as he began to think of what could possibly happen if Adam and Barbara chose not to forgive him at all.

In the kitchen, Lydia leaned against a wall whilst Olympia sat herself down at the table in the middle of the room.

"Bro." She spoke up. "Sis. Can we talk?"

Although Lydia still couldn't see them, she could feel two icy cold blasts she knew were the Maitlands pass by her.

From what Olympia herself could see, however, her brother and sister-in-law appeared in front of her, sitting in the chairs directly across from her.

"Sure, little sis." Adam smiled. "What did you want to talk about?"

Olympia sighed quietly, resting a hand against her chin. "Well, for starters, Lydia and I got suspended from school today."

Adam and Barbara nervously glanced at one another and then back towards Olympia. "WHAT?! What for?"

"Apparently, I was laughing way too loud." Olympia rested her head on the kitchen table.

"You and Lydia got suspended from school today because you were laughing way too loud?" Adam confusedly cocked his head to the side.

Olympia nodded, embarrassed. "And then the principal asked us to give her our parents' phone numbers."

"What did you say?" Barbara asked her sister-in-law.

"Lydia told her we couldn't give her our parents' phone numbers and when she asked us if there was anyone that she could call, I decided to dare Lydia to summon Betelgeuse."

Again Adam and Barbara exchanged nervous glances. "She didn't?" Adam rested his hands on the table. "Did she?"

A nervous Olympia nodded. "She did. He's currently in the foyer waiting to know if you forgive him for all he's done."

"No." Adam suddenly said. "We won't forgive him until he proves to us that he's changed."

"Answer me this." Olympia stood up. "How did you feel when Lydia realized that she could no longer see you two?"

"Upset." Barbara guessed.

"Precisely. That is exactly how Betelgeuse himself will feel if Lydia or I tell him you refuse to forgive him."

"Wait." Barbara was stunned. "Lydia can see him."

Olympia nodded.

"Wait?" Adam was confused. "If she can see him, does that mean that she regained the ability to see us?"

"There's only one way to find out." Olympia turned to face her friend. "Lydia, can you see my brother and sister-in-law?"

Lydia just shook her head. "No, I still can't. Sorry."

Adam and Barbara float-paced around the room, trying to figure out how they could be able to be seen by Lydia again. If it was possible for their foster daughter to see Betelgeuse then could it be possible for her to see them. They glanced down towards Olympia again, very amusing looks on their faces.

"What?" Olympia laughed a little, glancing up towards her brother and her sister-in-law. "What are those faces for, guys?"

Adam slowly floated down in front of his younger sister. "We're trying to see if pulling funny faces is enough to get Lydia to see us again. Babs and I really miss talking to her."

Olympia rolled her eyes at this and sighed quietly. "Even if you want Lydia to be able to see you again, I don't think pulling funny faces is enough to make it happen."

"Then what is?" Barbara floated down in front of Olympia as well. "What's going to make us visible to Lydia again?"

Olympia turned, looking out into the foyer of the house. "I believe Betelgeuse is the only one who can figure out why Lydia can't see you. If you forgive him, I believe he'll be more than happy to help with this."

"But-."

"Only if you forgive him." Olympia repeated.

Adam groaned. "Fine!"

Olympia smiled at her brother and sister-in-law, turning and going into the foyer of the house.


	5. To Be Seen Again!

Olympia led a nervous looking Betelgeuse into the kitchen area of Lydia's house a few minutes later. She led him over to the the table, had him sit down, and she moved to lean against the wall next to Lydia.

Betelgeuse's eyes were focused on the table, a clear sign he wasn't even sure of what to say to the two ghosts. Adam and Barbara both nervously glanced at one another. They could tell that the demon was confused. That got the two of them thinking: would the two of them deciding to go right ahead and forgive the demon make him feel a little bit better?

There was only one way to find out.

The two ghosts turned to face the still-nervous Betelgeuse, Adam reaching over and resting a hand on the demon's shoulder. This action suddenly grabbed his attention and Betelgeuse looked up, his eyes focusing on a smiling Adam and Barbara.

"I take it that means the two of you forgive me?" Was the first thing the demon said, a smile also appearing on his face.

The two ghosts nodded and smiled even more.

Betelgeuse suddenly sprung up, reaching forwards and scooping the two, now surprised, ghosts into a hug. "THANK YOU SO MUCH!"

"Betelgeuse." Barbara squeaked. "Too tight..."

The demon stopped and let go of the two ghosts. "Heh...sorry."

Adam's eyes quickly focused on Lydia and Olympia and he sighed, redirecting his attention back towards Betelgeuse. "Can you help us figure out a way to get Lydia to see us again?"

"Sure, I can." Came Betelgeuse's response. "The thing is, we're not going to be able to consult the Handbook for the Recently Deceased for answers this time since none of us are considered to be 'recently deceased' anymore."

"Wait." A confused Barbara spoke up. "If we can't even look for answers in the Handbook anymore then how are we going to know how to get Lydia to be able to see us again?"

"That's a very good question, dear Barbara." Betelgeuse began to slowly pace around the room. "I don't know."

"DON'T KNOW?!" Adam and Barbara shouted in unison, halting Betelgeuse's pacing and forcing the demon to suddenly turn and face the two ghosts.

"Look." Betelgeuse ran a hand through his hair. "Guys, it's not that I don't have any answers when it comes to Lydia being unable to see the two of you. I may have an idea as to why she can't see you."

Adam and Barbara both sat down in the chairs they'd been sitting in when they were talking to the former's sister earlier, their eyes focusing on Betelgeuse as he did the same.

"Tell us!" Adam demanded of the demon.

"I think she can't see you guys anymore because she's getting older and thinks she's old enough to take care of herself."

The two ghosts looked to each other then back towards the demon seated in front of them. "So what you're saying is that Lydia can't even see us anymore because she thinks she doesn't need us."

"Yeah." Was all Betelgeuse said.

The two ghosts and the demon looked over towards a confused Olympia and a face palming, rather annoyed, Lydia. Why didn't Adam and Barbara even know that the reasons Lydia could not see them were because she was getting older, thought she was old enough to take care of herself, and thought she didn't need them.

"Well, is there anything we can do in order to get her to see us?" Adam asked Betelgeuse, the former resting a hand against his chin.

Betelgeuse thought quietly to himself for a moment, his eyes focusing on Lydia and Olympia. "Hmm, I'm going to have to say that the only way that she can see you two again is if she lets you know that she regrets telling you two she was old enough to take care of herself."

"A-are you sure, Betelgeuse?" Barbara sounded a little confused about all this.

"Yeah." Betelgeuse replied, using his powers to teleport a now confused Lydia over towards where he and the Maitlands were. "I'm sure."

Lydia turned to face him, scratching her head. "Bj, how am I supposed to tell the Maitlands that I regret everything I said to them about taking care of myself."

"Just tell them about all this. If you stop thinking about being old enough to take care of yourself, then hopefully you can see them again."

"Okay. I hope this works." Lydia sighed and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath, stepping forwards. "Adam. Barbara. I'm sorry that I ever told you guys that I was old enough to take care of myself. I didn't realize at the time that by saying any of that, I would no longer be able to see you guys. Can you ever forgive me."

The sudden sensation of a hand brushing against her shoulder startled Lydia and she glanced up, eyes focusing on a smiling Adam and Barbara standing before her.

Her smile grew wider and she leapt forwards, hugging her ghostly foster parents for the first time in two years. "GUYS!"

"Oh, Lydia." Barbara sniffed quietly as she and Adam wrapped their arms around the eighteen year-old. "Don't ever tell us that you're old enough to take care of yourself again."

"I won't, guys." Lydia began to cry tears of joy. "I promise I won't."


End file.
